One Year
About a week ago I passed the 1-year mark in my naval career. Crazy, eh? I think so. Let’s recap:
- September, 2005 - Signed the contract.
- April 11, 2006 - Went to Boot Camp. Experienced annoyances beyond my wildest imagination. Boot camp wasn’t that hard, but the hoops one has to jump through to get anything done were extremely annoying.
- June 9, 2006 - Graduated Boot Camp. I’m free! (for the most part…)
- June 9, 2006 - Moved across the street to Naval Station Great Lakes, where I would spend the next four months being trained as an Electronics Technician (or ET). It would have been 6 or 7 months, but I (thankfully) finished ahead of schedule. I’m not a big fan of the way the base was run, so I was very happy to be out of there.
- September 29, 2006 - Graduated ‘A’ School, the course certifying me as an ET.
- October 12, 2006 - Transferred to Norfolk, Virginia where I learned how to maintain several specific systems that I would be responsible for when I arrived to my first command. This stage of my military career was fairly uneventful, though not necessarily easy.
- March 20, 2007 - Transferred to my first command, the USS De Wert, FFG 45. A frigate with a crew of just over 200, the De Wert is primarily tasked with counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism tasks, known as CNT operations.
Well, I’ve now been at my first command for a month and have learned a few things about life in the US Navy:
- I do get seasick. I tried to be a ‘manly man’ and not take the motion sickness pills before my first time underway and paid for it dearly with 24 hours of living next to a toilet, not daring to even stand up for longer than a few minutes. Believe you me, I take the pills without hesitation now.
- Small stuff is better than big stuff. When one has to fit one’s entire life in two lockers (giving roughly the same amount of space as 3 high-school-sized lockers), one learns to pack small. I even switched out my regular bath towels for camping towels that dry fast and pack small. They’re not as convenient, but they sure do take up less room.
- I have to be assertive and persistent to succeed. The Navy expects a sailor to be able to jump in with both feet when it comes to living and working aboard a ship, so in order to succeed I’m going to have to work hard at it and learn on my feet.
- Family matters. I’ve spent more time out to sea than in port this last month, and it won’t get any better during the next year. My family has always been there for me, and I’m extremely grateful for that. They are my solid rock when I’m out to sea.